In a troubling turn of events for Michoacán, candidates for the renewal of the state’s Judicial Power are emerging with questionable ties to both former governor Silvano Aureoles Conejo and the current governor, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla. As of March 22, 2025, the Evaluation Committee of Michoacán's three powers—Executive, Legislative, and Judicial—has listed candidates such as Paula Edith Espinosa Barrientos and José Alfredo Flores Vargas, both with significant connections to the state’s political elite.
Paula Edith Espinosa Barrientos, vying for a position on the Tribunal de Disciplina Judicial, previously served as director of the state’s DIF and later benefited from Notaría number 203 in Tarímbaro. More recently, from January 17, 2025, until February 28, 2025, she was general director of ICATMI. Her qualifications, however, are shadowed by the political relationships forged during her previous roles.
Meanwhile, José Alfredo Flores Vargas, another candidate for the same tribunal, has an extensive background within Michoacán’s government. He worked as a legal aide under Verónica García Reyes and has held various positions in the public registry of property and commerce between 2008 and 2012. His background includes a disqualification in 2021 by the Secretariat of the Comptroller, yet he has still been appointed as director of the Registro del Estado under the current administration.
The election also brings forth Mayra Xiomara Trevizo Guízar, currently the Undersecretary of Human Rights and Population, who aims for a magistracy role in civil matters. Previously a councilor in Uruapan and involved with the governance office, her ties to the political landscape are equally substantial.
However, these judicial appointments come at a time when the state is grappling with the aftermath of the Inverforx investment scandal. This financial debacle has shocked Michoacán, exposing higher-level officials to scrutiny and highlighting a pattern of corruption that many citizens are demanding justice for. In February 2025, secretaries and undersecretaries within the Michoacán cabinet found themselves engulfed in a nightmare stemming from their investments in Inverforx, a company touted as a financial miracle by its creator, Luis Alberto Pérez Zamorano.
Pérez Zamorano lured investors with promises of twisting fortunes through investments in varied sectors such as lithium, gold, cotton, and oil. By 2023, however, the facade crumbled as the company ceased payments, enveloping thousands, including many state employees, in financial ruin. In fact, the sums lost total thousands of millions of pesos, affecting over 10,000 clients across the state.
Many government officials were encouraged to invest not only by Pérez Zamorano but also by key figures like Sonia Fuerte Armenta and Ariadna Rosas Burgos, former high-ranking finance officials who even established a branch of Inverforx in Michoacán. In November 2023, following a spate of complaints, affected teachers from the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) turned to the Michoacán Prosecutor's Office, placing Fuerte and Rosas squarely at the forefront of this financial catastrophe.
Despite the gravity of the situation, investigations have progressed sluggishly. By March 20, 2024, José Francisco Moreno Salgado, head of the property crimes unit, cited resource constraints and shockingly requested victims contribute 4,000 pesos per person to finance their own investigations. Attorney Carmen Madrigal criticized this approach, stating, "This is work that authorities should do. They are allocated a budget for this," expressing frustration over the additional burden placed on victims.
As arrests began on March 1, 2025, with former Secretary of Finance Carlos Maldonado Mendoza apprehended in Miami and a warrant issued for Silvano Aureoles himself, the scandal erupted into a nationwide conversation about corruption in Mexican politics. Māldonado and other officials, while accused of financial mismanagement, are perhaps not the only culpable figures, and scrutiny continues to mount around their investment practices.
This tumultuous atmosphere has left many in Michoacán fearful. The risk of exposure for being labeled as victims of a scam is significant, considered disgraceful for officials expected to uphold integrity. Speculations arise regarding whether state money may have been funneled into these investments, a question that both victims and lawmakers await answers to as investigations unfold.
The legal proceedings, now unfolding across two state jurisdictions, have yet to thoroughly investigate the roles of Fuerte and Rosas, with most of the focus settling on Pérez Zamorano. But as the drama escalates and the scandal deepens, communities across Michoacán are left to ponder the integrity of their leaders and the ramifications of this financial debacle, which serves as a grave warning about unchecked ambition and negligence in governance.
